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Urskaland
'' The Great Kingdom of Yrsaland ''(Ursk: '''De Grutekonegsreik af Urskaland') is a nation located in the northwest of the continent of Norderon, whose territory consists of the Ursk archipelago in the Teleros Sea, and two overseas territories in the far west and northwest of mainland Norderon. The country is one of the most influential on the planet, with Ursk being one of two global ''lingua francas. Urskaland is also a very developed and technologically advanced society, with an high quality of life due to a relatively low population and very high GDP per capita. The Ursk currency is the Geld (Δ), which can be subdivided into 100 Yren (Λ)'.'' Ursk, a Germanic language, belongs to the Norderonian language family, specifically the Western branch. Etymology The demonym '''Ursk comes from the Proto-Germanic word uzjǭ, which means 'fire'. The Proto-Ursk race, who resided in mainland Norderon, were renowned for being excellent smiths, and were given a demonym by the surrounding Germanic peoples which reflected this quality. The suffix '-iskaz' ''was also added to form '''uzesk', which underwent rhotacization to form the Old Ursk ursk'. '' The genitive case ending '''-as and the word land formed the Old Ursk Urskasland' ''- or in the Kvarsk dialect, which would go on to become the standard, '''Urskaland, which is where the modern name comes from. Many other cultures across the world call the nation 'Yrsaland' ''instead, mainly due to a mistranslation attributed to a scribe in 1104CE. The scribe was not a native Ursk speaker, and misidentified the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative 'ɕ' present in the Eastern dialects of Old Ursk as the voiceless alveolar fricative '''s'. History Settlement Urskaland was settled by Western Norderonic (Germanic) tribes around the 5th Century CE. The number of people involved in settling (''Ursk: Heimneming) ''the main island is believed to be between 70 - 80 thousand people over 30 years. Over time, two distinct 'dialects' of Old Ursk developed: one in the west and another in the east, separated by the Aunafall mountain range which spans from the north to south of the country. However, the west outnumbered the east by 5 to 1, and by around 600CE, the first documented Ursk texts began to show up, mainly historical documents. Politically, by this time, Ursaland consisted of multiple small duchies and petty kingdoms, and brawls were frequent, although in the old Germano-Ursk culture, killing another member of your tribe was seen as an evil action - even though the dialects had split slightly, people from the West and East still believed them and the others to be Ursk. Records tell us that in 724CE, the great-grandson of the king of the original Ursk settlers became the monarch of a united Urskaland when the king of the East swore fealty to him. The first Koneg (king), Asbjorn I Thorbjornsson, son of the formidable Thorbjorn 'Ironaxe' Eriksson, founded the Ungriþisk dynasty and set the capital of the nation to the largest city, Kvarvikhavn (which eventually grew to absorb his royal seat in nearby Ungriþ) 'Ursking' Age The verb 'ursking' is common in many languages, and means roughly 'to plunder or pirate'. During the 6th to 9th Centuries, Ursk raids around the Teleros were common. However, over the course of this period, the raiding and pillaging evolved into bartering, trading and inventing. The Ursk are renowned as an industrious people and have a reputation which ultimately stems from this period, particularly in shipbuilding and weaponry. At this time, a rudimentary form of tetryllite was produced - a strong, light, carbon-steel alloy. Conquest of Kvidland In the early 14th century, 2,000 Ursk people, consisting of farmers, soldiers, builders and carpenters, sailed over the northern Telerosian Sea and landed on the west coast of northern Norderon, building the town of Vykkurhavn. This settlement expanded over 4 centuries, creating the Yrsk colony of Kvidland, which evolved to become an important part of the Ursk nation state. Geography - Politics and Government Economy - Demographics - Culture -